History Characters / BetterCallSaulChuckMcGill

* HisOwnWorstEnemy: The people around him (like Jimmy, Howard, etc) were actually very understanding and accommodating towards Chuck's condition and did their best to work with him and make him feel as normal as possible. Its his [[Pride more]] [[NeverMyFault personal]] [[HolierThanThou flaws]] that constantly drive them up a wall and before long, [[spoiler: drove them completely away, leaving him alone and with nothing else to live for.]]

* BeyondRedemption: Played with. This is ultimately the crux of Chuck's attitude towards Jimmy; while he's initially willing to help Jimmy out, ultimately, he doesn't really believe in rehabilitation over punishment and believes that Jimmy can never truly move on from his Slippin' Jimmy ways in order to redeem himself. Unfortunately, while he does [[JerkassHasAPoint have a point]] that Jimmy clearly finds it alarmingly easy to regress and give into his worst impulses, he's clouded by resentment to the point where he can't recognize Jimmy's honest and good-faith efforts to at least ''try'' to improve himself, and his sabotage of these efforts only turns his belief into a SelfFulfillingProphecy by pushing Jimmy to a point where he sees regressing -- and worse -- as his only options to succeed.

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Howard and Jimmy both point out that Chuck returns them bending over backwards for him for years with being sued in Howard's case and completely sabotaged in Jimmy's. Ernesto does what Chuck plans him to do and still gets fired, and Kim goes from being a tempting protege to DefiledForever in his eyes.

** Turns out he's not above a little entrapment himself. Yup: fraud's OK if he's the one doing it "to catch a crook" -- even though Jimmy is both his brother and his primary caretaker even at that point, still.
** Chuck paints himself the high and mighty do-gooder compared to Jimmy, but when it comes down to it, he resorts to backhanded shady tactics to get what he wants, just like Jimmy. Jimmy [[AtLeastIAdmitIt embraces who he is]], while Chuck is still in denial that he's no different than Jimmy.

** After having told Jimmy that abusing the law could get people hurt, he [[spoiler:shows no compunction about suing Hamlin, Hamlin, & [=McGill=] after Howard tries to force him into retirement, even though he knows that HHM can't afford to pay back the damages he's seeking, which would mean liquidating his own firm and putting Howard and the entire staff out a job]]. His actions against Jimmy in Season 3 also show that Chuck has no issue manipulating the law to help him achieve his goal of getting Jimmy disbarred, all for his own personal vendetta.
** Chuck also justifies his actions with the tape recorder by saying it was to show Jimmy that he needed to change before he destroys himself and others and facing the consequences would make him a better man. Chuck adamantly refuses to change his behavior throughout the series and eventually ends up hurting others, including pushing Jimmy on to the path to becoming Saul Goodman and subsequently tries to get out of facing the consequences of his own actions by getting Jimmy a lesser charge so he can still take care of him.

* InnocentlyInsensitive: Chuck does mean well in his own warped way but his own narcissism and controlling tendencies combined with his poor ability to express his emotions and understand those of others badly undermining his intent and he often fails to understand how he comes across. This is most prominent in his relationship with Kim who he cares a lot for and sees himself as a guide and father figure to but can't stop himself from seeing her as a lost little girl who he needs to protect from Jimmy's influence, which Kim absolutely hates and finds demeaning, resulting in her being pushed further into Jimmy's grasp since he treats with far more respect. During his brutal speech in "Pimento", he also sincerely tells Jimmy how he was proud of him after he went straight and started working in the mailroom. In Chuck's mind, he's praising Jimmy for turning his life around but all Jimmy hears is Chuck saying he never wanted him to be anything more than his loser younger brother who he was generous enough to put somewhere Chuck could keep an eye on him. In general, Chuck honestly thinks he's doing what's best for Jimmy by preventing him from being a lawyer and controlling his life as a whole and can't really understand why Jimmy would have a problem with that.

** Chuck is a firm believer that people don't change and repeatedly chides his brother Jimmy for not changing his ways. And yet, in spite of Jimmy's honest attempts at change, Chuck's repeated attempts at sabotaging his career are major catalysts as to Jimmy's eventual decline and rebirth into "Saul Goodman". And while he chides his brother for his antics as "Slippin' Jimmy" and slipping back into his old habits, he's greatly capable of being a great ManipulativeBastard con-man in his own right if he had decided to go that route.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Chuck has been stabbing his kid brother in the back all these years because ''he'' doesn't think Jimmy should be a lawyer, not seeming to register that this is in no way something that's up to him to decide. Later [[spoiler:he drags Howard, Ernesto, and the rest of HHM into his vendetta with his brother, cruelly using Ernesto's concern for his friend to place Jimmy right where he wants him and dipping into ''company funds'' to hire the private investigators needed for his gambit against Jimmy. Howard tries to be polite and compromising about it, but he gets fed up with Chuck's antics (along with his patronizing attitude).]] This reaches a head when Howard politely suggests that Chuck consider retiring, and Chuck's response is to threaten a lawsuit against HHM that would destroy the firm, at which point Howard has no choice but to abandon him entirely.

* IvyLeagueForEveryone: He attended the University Of Pennsylvania, at only fourteen no less, and later went to Georgetown, which isn't Ivy League but still a very prestigious university, showing his intellect and also contributing to his snobbery.
* JerkassHasAPoint: It seems to be a RunningGag that Chuck will have a legitimate point whilst still being a complete asshole about it. We already know that Chuck is completely correct that Jimmy is a corrupt lawyer, but it's pretty hard to pay attention to that after he's done admitting that he's been secretly betraying his brother for ''years'' because of that assessment. Ultimately it's deconstructed, as his behavior towards Jimmy [[NiceJobBreakingItHero eventually ensures that he'll become the 'chimp with the machine gun' that he feared.]]

*** In season one, it was a gut punch to Jimmy and the audience that Chuck was the one secretly keeping Jimmy from getting a job at HHM. But Chuck worked hard to build a prominent and respected law firm, and Jimmy has a criminal record, a correspondence school degree, and passed the bar on the third try. There's no way he'd even be considered on his own merits, and it's pretty presumptuous to assume that he should be hired out of straight nepotism. He has a better argument after proving his worth on the Sandpiper case, but Chuck has ample reason to not want him on board.

** He threatens to ''sue his own firm'' over the quite justified concerns Howard has over his unpredictable judgment and decision making, as the Mesa Verde confession tape gambit shows.

** To Walter White. Chuck is a ControlFreak who likes Jimmy best when Chuck is the one in position of power, like Walt prefers Jesse when Jesse needs him, they both feel like they've been made the ButtMonkey in life, have complicated relationships with their mothers (though in Chuck's case it's resentment of Jimmy being her favourite), both have a lot of pride and believe they've been justified in everything, both start out in an upstanding position only to rot and show their true selves over the course of the series, and both love their wives intensely but also don't respect them enough to tell them the truth. Made explicit in "Saul Gone", with TheReveal that Jimmy saw them as mirrors too, and was such a mess over Chuck that he subconsciously found someone else who could hold his head down. The main differences between Chuck and Walter is that Walter gradually descended into being a repugnant crime lord, but eventually came to realize his evil and atone for what he did, whereas Chuck remains on the right side of the law, but never owns up to his mistakes.

*** They are also the UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom to the main characters, which cause them to become who they are. Hank offered to take Walter on a ride-along to a meth lab so they can do a drug bust, which causes Walt to think over about running an empire after meeting his former student Jesse Pinkman from the raid, whereas Chuck's envy to push Jimmy out of being a lawyer causes him to turn into Saul Goodman. But whereas Hank's actions were unintentional, Chuck's weren't, though this drove his brother further into being a con lawyer due to Chuck thinking Jimmy won't change. Hank also didn't know about Walt's empire until the end of Breaking Bad, whereas Chuck knows what Jimmy was doing, [[spoiler:though he never lives long enough to meet Saul Goodman]].
*** [[spoiler:Even their respective deaths have opposite effects on the series protagonists. Hank's death befalls him in the line of duty, complete with valiant last words, which causes Walt to snap out of his selfish "Heisenberg" persona and express genuine regret, ultimately atoning for his wrongdoing in the finale. Conversely, Jimmy does not witness Chuck's death, arriving at the scene after he and his place are incinerated. He then spends most of Season 4 refusing to grieve or even acknowledge Chuck's existence, only doing so when it helps his career. This culminates in "Winner," when Jimmy uses Chuck's letter to him as a prop to garner sympathy, playing up his loss, then showing no remorse behind closed doors]].

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Howard and Jimmy both point out that Chuck returns them bending over backwards for him for years with being sued in Howard's case and completely sabotaged in Jimmy's. Ernie does what Chuck plans him to do and still gets fired, and Kim goes from being a tempting protege to DefiledForever in his eyes.

-->'''Chuck''' [to Ernie, who he's mistreated all season]: If anything were to happen to you, I'd feel just sick about it.

** As Jimmy points out, [[spoiler:getting Jimmy arrested and firing Ernie means that no one will be around to take care of him and he will most likely die alone]].

* ItsAllAboutMe: Chuck has been stabbing his kid brother in the back all these years because ''he'' doesn't think Jimmy should be a lawyer, not seeming to register that this is in no way something that's up to him to decide. Later [[spoiler:he drags Howard, Ernie, and the rest of HHM into his vendetta with his brother, cruelly using Ernie's concern for his friend to place Jimmy right where he wants him and dipping into ''company funds'' to hire the private investigators needed for his gambit against Jimmy. Howard tries to be polite and compromising about it, but he gets fed up with Chuck's antics (along with his patronizing attitude).]] This reaches a head when Chuck threatens a lawsuit that would destroy HHM when Howard simply suggests that he retire, causing Howard to abandon him entirely.

* KickTheDog: Chuck has many moments over the series that show that, beneath his noble persona, he's capable of some pretty striking cruelty:
** After he gets Jimmy out of prison, he only gives Jimmy a few minutes to say goodbye to Marco before blaring the car horn. While he's not wrong in the alcoholics comparison, he wasted no time in being a dick about it.

** He threatens to ''sue his own partner'' over the quite justified concerns Howard has over his unpredictable judgment and decision making, as the Mesa Verde confession tape gambit shows.

* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: PlayedWith. At the end of Season 3, he [[spoiler:tells Jimmy he never cared much for him, among a choice selection of insults and NeverMyFault protestations by himself, when Jimmy makes one final attempt to make amends]]. This comes after Chuck's dismissal of HHM and the collapse of his purpose: returning to form to work again; likewise, Jimmy is forced to confront Kim's overworking might be partly his fault and wants to make amends to soothe his guilt. Chuck simply decides to use one last jerk move to gain some momentary satisfaction and a sense of superiority while at the same time calling Jimmy out on how his moves have screwed people around him and how a simple "I'm Sorry" won't do at this point. Of course, he's unaware of Kim's accident, but the effect is the same. However, once Jimmy goes...

* MeanBoss: As an employer, Chuck isn't entirely unpleasant, but he can still be rather impatient and condescending, especially with Ernesto. Even Howard is growing weary of how Chuck [[ItsAllAboutMe puts his own agenda]] before everyone else's interests. Then he [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished punishes Ernesto for his good deeds]] and [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness fires him]].

*** [[spoiler:Even their respective deaths have opposite effects on the series protagonists. Hank's death befalls him in the line of duty, complete with valiant last words, which causes Walt to snap out of his selfish "Heisenberg" persona and express genuine regret, ultimately atoning for his wrongdoing in the finale. Conversely, Jimmy does not witness Chuck's death, arriving at the scene once he and his place are incinerated. He then spends most of Season 4 refusing to grieve or even acknowledge Chuck's existence, only doing so when it helps his career. This culminates in "Winner," when Jimmy uses Chuck's letter to him as a prop to garner sympathy, playing up his loss, then showing no remorse behind closed doors]].

** He fires Ernie for telling Jimmy about the Mesa Verde tape despite the fact that Chuck ''intentionally manipulated him'' into doing that. Justified in that Chuck is [[TheChessmaster covering his tracks]].

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Trying to get Kim on his side, and repaying the favour of thinking Jimmy ruined his marriage, he tells her about baby Jimmy StealingFromTheTill. What he doesn't know is that Kim has a history of shoplifting, and no advocate in her parents, so she recognises his powerplay/attempt at isolation, it just makes her relate more to her boyfriend and they get back together in the next episode.

* NotHelpingYourCase: It is a genuine NotMeThisTime with Howard putting Kim in Doc Review, but it doesn't help that he has to snidely point out that if Howard were his puppet he wouldn't recommend Jimmy to Davis and Main, and everything that happened in season one. A few episodes later he grabs Mesa Verde away from Kim because he thinks he needs to save her from Jimmy's influence. As noted [[JerkassHasAPoint above]], this is a recurring problem for Chuck, that he often has legitimately good points or arguments but his condescending attitude and petty dickery undermine any possibility of people listening to him.

* NoSocialSkills: A downplayed and realistic version. Chuck is undeniably a brilliant and talented man and, as a successful and well-respected lawyer, clearly has more than a little in the way of persuasive ability and communication skills. However, overall he is clearly somewhat lacking in social intelligence and the kind of silver-tongued charisma his colleagues and Jimmy possess. While he's capable of getting by in most personal interactions, has managed to earn the respect and even affection of his colleagues regardless, and has the ability to persuade, influence and even dominate, charm is clearly not his main strength, and what he particularly lacks is the ability to ''dazzle''. This is in stark contrast to both his brother Jimmy and his law partner Howard, the former of whom especially is able to effortlessly charm just about anyone he meets; consider how Chuck and Howard work as a double-act in "Fifi" to convince Mesa Verde to come back to HMM, or when Jimmy meets Rebecca and instantly wins her over with his sense of humor while Chuck's later attempts to make her laugh fall flat. And it's clear that this rankles Chuck, [[GreenEyedMonster especially when it comes to Jimmy]], and feeds into his insecurities and resentments; while others who have his formidable intellect, impressive list of accomplishments and public regard might simply accept and brush off a comparative lack of charisma as a fairly minor aspect of their personality and focus on their other strengths, the fact that others, ''especially'' his 'worthless' younger brother, are capable of doing something he lacks the ability to do clearly eats away at Chuck.

* OffendedByAnInferiorsSuccess: Chuck is disgusted at the idea of his fuck up younger brother actually being a lawyer and while he begrudgingly accepts that he can't stop Jimmy from being one, at first anyway, he does his best to limit him to small-time public defense work that barely covers Jimmy's living expenses, much less the added burden of having to take care of Chuck later. Chuck would rather live in poverty than accept his brother having a respectable law career.

* PresentAbsence: Especially after his death, Chuck takes up residence in Jimmy's, Kim's and Howard's brains. Kim has to deal with the after-affects of the emotional damage he did (along with his similarities to her abusive mother), and Jimmy and Howard are battling all sorts of guilt, anger, resentment and misery of never getting his approval that they craved. In a CerebusRetcon, he's also in Series/BreakingBad too, and Saul more than noticed Walt's mirrors with his brother.

** This screws him over something fierce in season 3; he correctly realizes that Jimmy tampered with the documents, but he came to that conclusion, not through logic or evidence, but because ''he'' would never make an error, so obviously, [[NeverMyFault it must be Jimmy's fault.]] This is why Jimmy is able to frame Chuck's accusation as the conspiratorial paranoia of a mentally disturbed man with an inflated ego--because even though Chuck is right, he would have reached exactly the same conclusions if he were wrong.
** This applies to his campaign against Jimmy becoming a lawyer in general. He's absolutely right that he could end up doing serious damage and, as [[Series/BreakingBad we see later]], that's exactly what Jimmy does as Saul Goodman. But it's made abundantly clear that Chuck's behavior is more motivated by his disgust at the idea of his fuck up younger brother being successful and his own ego and insecurity issues than any real concern for the law. Furthermore, Chuck's claims about the danger Jimmy poses as a lawyer are largely a SelfFulfillingProphecy borne of Chuck's own efforts to sabotage him [[note]]Odenkirk confirmed that Saul is so amoral because he wants to spite Chuck[[/note]], and they could have been averted or at least significantly reduced had Jimmy just been given some encouragement and positive reinforcement.
** "Jimmy can't help himself, and everyone else is left picking up the pieces." While it's true that Jimmy is impulsive and makes plenty of choices that fuck him and everyone else over, Chuck needs to believe for his own sake that his brother is just passively awful. There's always a reason why Jimmy does what he does, whether it's pettiness or wanting to make someone happy or greed or doubling down on a bad choice because he thinks it will help in the long run. Chuck especially doesn't want to consider that any of Jimmy's actions might be a response to his own mistreatment.
** He gets worried for valid reasons about the hospital bill in "Mijo", assuming it's the return of slippin' Jimmy. The reality is a bit more complicated, but it's not exactly like Jimmy can say he tried a scam that got him kidnapped by the cartel but saved two lives.
** Chuck blames Jimmy for their father going out of business and dying shortly after due to his regularly stealing small amounts of cash from the till. While Jimmy did steal small amounts over the years, Chuck ignores or is presumably unaware of how their dad was also far too trusting and gave money and groceries away freely to anyone who claimed to need it, making himself an easy mark for grifters, which played a huge role in his failure.

* SelfServingMemory: It runs in the family, as he tells the prosecutor in "Sunk Costs" that he and his brother had a "falling out", neglecting to mention that this was because he told said brother he'd never be a real lawyer. He also tells Kim he's only ever tried to look out for Jimmy when not even he truly believes that one. "Saul Gone" thirdly reveals that when Jimmy was first running around doing everything for Chuck, Chuck realized maybe his brother had changed, so tried to make amends but wasn't trusted thanks to a lot of damage, and went back to his usual refrain.
* ShippingTorpedo: Using Jimmy as an excuse to ruin his marriage, and wanting his brother to be alone and controlled, Chuck tries multiple times in season two to get Kim onto his side. JerkassHasAPoint that Jimmy did steal and did change the numbers, but Kim always sees the bias and doesn't fall for it.

* TheShutIn: In season 1, when his condition was at its worst. He would get around to keeping himself busy by catching up with work or simply playing music. Worse, his intolerance for electricity would be crippling in every way: long enough and he would pass out. This causes some major issues: since he can't go outside, Jimmy has to bring him groceries ''and'' provide for the bills; he ''won't'' quit [=HHM=], so he keeps receiving a rather measly paycheck; and he won't tell anyone other than the brother of his condition, so he's left to his own devices. There's also the tasering incident when he went outside with the "space blanket" for the newspaper and [[spoiler: the "not telling [=HHM=]'s insurance of his condition".]]

* TherapyIsForTheWeak: [[JustifiedTrope Chuck is so self-assured]] ''and'' [[AppealToAuthority backed by the respect his reputation commands from his peers]], he comes to believe Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity is a real condition and something he has, letting him he believe he doesn't need treatment for any psychological problems. By Season 3, [[spoiler:it's Subverted when he's forced to realize it's fake, seeking treatment after freaking out in court. Then tragically DoubleSubverted as he relapses, canceling future appointments]].

** For Season one and half of Season 2, he made his peace that Jimmy is a lawyer as long as it is small cases or elderly law outside his firm (he even refused Jimmy's deal to have him stop practicing law if he brought back Kim out of the archive room because it would be blackmailing), when he believed Jimmy is working with Kim he goes out of his way to take back Mesa Verde from her even though she did all the work to get them for HHM and scared the hell out of Howard and Ernesto when his condition kicked in. Then when he is rightfully convinced his brother forged his documents he tries every gray area he can find to make sure Jimmy is disbarred and takes pleasure from it.

* WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove: Chuck really is capable of the emotion, for his family and wife and HHM, but he's also confused when Jimmy is actually angry about betrayal with the tape instead of just mad he got caught, and can't comprehend Howard's grief over being backstabbed with the lawsuit after nearly twenty years of loyal support. This inability to understand others is a major motivation for his actions as he has always regarded love and approval as things to be earned and was incensed at the idea that whatever he did, his parents would always prefer Jimmy, failing to understand that they loved them both, and keeps Jimmy on the hook by withholding any love and respect to keep him desperate for both from Chuck.
* WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou: In his mind, every single cruel thing he's done he's tried to justify as the other person deserving it. It's mostly Jimmy, but Ernie, Kim and Howard all get it too, and sometimes Chuck himself can't even push the guilt down hard enough.

[[Characters/BetterCallSaulLawyers Lawyers]] ([[Characters/BreakingBadSaulGoodman Jimmy [=McGill=]/Saul Goodman]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulKimWexler Kim Wexler]], '''Chuck [=McGill=]''', [[Characters/BetterCallSaulHowardHamlin Howard Hamlin]]), [[Characters/BetterCallSaulLawEnforcement Law Enforcement]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulCartel Juarez Cartel]] ([[Characters/BetterCallSaulNachoVarga Nacho Varga]], [[Characters/BreakingBadHectorSalamanca Hector Salamanca]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulLaloSalamanca Lalo Salamanca]]), [[Characters/BetterCallSaulLosPollosHermanos Los Pollos Hermanos]] ([[Characters/BreakingBadMikeEhrmantraut Mike Ehrmantraut]], [[Characters/BreakingBadGustavoFring Gustavo Fring]]), [[Characters/BetterCallSaulOmaha Omaha]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulPettyCriminals Petty Criminals]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulOtherCharacters Other Characters]]-]]]]]

* SiblingYinYang: With Jimmy for much of their lives. Chuck is intelligent, hard-working, and admired by his colleagues but lacks social skills and charisma. Jimmy is a hustler who has no interest in finding steady work and operates well below his capabilities but is liked by people all the same for his charm and friendly, laid-back nature. Chuck is very attached to such a narrative and insists on holding on to it to protect his all-important pride. In the series, the contrast still stands. Jimmy knows exactly what kind of person he is while Chuck is heavily in denial and still sees himself as the noble, virtuous son. It's heavily implied that Chuck has based much of his own self-image around this and that's a big part of why he's so desperate to avoid seeing Jimmy succeed.

* UnreliableNarrator: His version of events is that baby Jimmy was a little nightmare that ruined his and his parents' lives for no real reason other than he was just born that way. While flashbacks show Jimmy as [[JerkassHasAPoint already petty and having issues like stealing]], they also show Chuck as an older teenager who looks after his sibling but quickly loses patience with him for small things, and Jimmy thinking he had to protect his dad from scam-artists. Word of everyone involved is Chuck definitely had something to do with Jimmy acting out in the first place, which fed into Chuck believing Jimmy was just a monster.

* AllTakeAndNoGive: He would really like to love Jimmy, who has [[ManipulativeBastard plenty of]] [[EvilIsPetty his own shit]], but the difference is that Jimmy really did try (as he says in the finale, "I tried, I should have tried harder"), both with Chuck and to be better, would always eventually crawl back, try to shove his anger down and forgive, and Chuck - aside from a few moments of humility - was too wrapped up in his own controlling, resentful pride to budge. He'd only really be happy with Jimmy if the man was an ExtremeDoormat resigned to life in the mailroom and serving his brother. There used to be more reciprocity between him and Jimmy, mostly shown in Season 1, but the realization that Jimmy's law practice will skyrocket after sandpiper makes Chuck not only go back to his sabotage but also abusing his relationship with Howard, another person that respect and trust Chuck for all he did for him, into making him a pawn.
* AmbiguousSituation: There is just enough ImplausibleDeniability given to ''both'' options. Is Chuck mentally ill or does he genuinely have an adverse medical reaction to electromagnetic fields which merely hasn't been discovered yet, as he repeatedly claims? If he does, does it only affect him when he's aware of the electromagnet, and if so, how is that functionally different from Chuck being mentally ill? The biggest gaping hole in his own reasoning is when Jimmy proves in front of an entire court that Chuck didn't notice Huell having hid a charged battery in his pocket for almost two hours, seemingly confirming Chuck's status as TheMentallyDisturbed, but even then there are aspects of his condition which don't line up with that diagnosis.

* AmoralAttorney: Very much PlayedWith, because, on the one hand, he never does anything illegal (as Kim says, he had a legal right to make the tape) and very much believes in the rule of law... but, his personal ethics leave a lot to be desired. Finally PlayedStraight when [[spoiler:he outright sues HHM in retaliation for Howard nicely asking him to retire and get a law teaching job]]. While legal, it was clearly done out of malice.

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Jimmy asks him why he doesn't threaten resignation to get Jimmy a job. The charade falls apart almost instantly.
* ArmorPiercingResponse: His response, a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech directed at Jimmy about how Jimmy isn't a "real" lawyer, obviously hits Jimmy just as deeply as Jimmy's questions hit Chuck.

* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Played with, and even deconstructed. Chuck does genuinely love his brother, and will take care of him in the 'right' circumstances. Unfortunately, part of the problem is that he has very high and exacting standards for what those 'right' circumstances are, and intends to force Jimmy to conform to them if needs be. This only serves to fuel the increasing feud between them.

** And then it's ZigZagged in the final episode of Season 3. [[spoiler:Chuck drives Jimmy away by telling him, "I don't want to hurt your feelings, but the truth is, you've never mattered all that much to me." Their relationship is strangled and thrown off a cliff, but despite what Chuck said, his ensuing relapse says otherwise. The ColdOpen to the episode establishes his love for his brother as genuine and going back to when they were kids, and as he tragically can't come to terms with his mental ills, he says the ''worst'' thing he can to make the problem go away, seemingly as fast as he can--with [[BlatantLies something he absolutely]] did [[BigBrotherInstinct not mean]].]]
** In the "Saul Gone" flashback, set during the early days of Chuck's illness, he sees Jimmy whizzing around being TheCaretaker, tells him he doesn't have to do this especially while trying to build his own practice, and actually offers to talk about Jimmy's cases, showing genuine interest in his brother's career without trying to put him down. Sadly, Jimmy has been talked down to enough that he doesn't trust it, rebuffs, and the moment is gone.
* BadassDecay: Happens in-universe. Chuck was once a brilliant lawyer, but by the time the show begins he has been overcome by a mental illness. We only get glimpses of just how good a lawyer he was. His resentment toward his brother also got worse and more childish as early in the first season he was fine with Jimmy practicing elder law and giving him somewhat good advice until he just goes completely vindictive and petty.

** Related to the above and fitting his resentful nature, any reminder that others have a skill Chuck doesn't really piss him off, especially in regard to Jimmy. A major source of their bad relationship is Chuck's rage at how easily Jimmy is able to win people over and get them to like him while Chuck has never been as good at it, particularly their parents who Chuck felt preferred Jimmy due to his charisma despite all he'd done to earn their approval. He's also clearly annoyed when Jimmy is easily able to charm Rebecca in their first meeting and make her laugh while Chuck's attempts to do the same later fall flat.
* BeyondRedemption: Played with. This is ultimately the crux of Chuck's attitude towards Jimmy; while he's initially willing to help Jimmy out, ultimately, he doesn't really believe in rehabilitation over punishment and believes that Jimmy can never truly move on from his 'Slippin' Jimmy' ways in order to redeem himself. Unfortunately, while he does [[JerkassHasAPoint have a point]] that Jimmy clearly finds it alarmingly easy to regress, he's clouded by resentment to the point where he can't recognise Jimmy's honest and good-faith efforts to at least ''try'' to improve himself, and his sabotage of these efforts just turns his belief into a SelfFulfillingProphecy by pushing Jimmy to a point where he sees regressing -- and worse -- as his only options to succeed.

** When he tries to get Jimmy disbarred even Howard feels like Chuck is missing the key points: First, faking selling his shares so Howard genuinely freaks out for "a touch of vérité" as he said is extremely manipulative toward Howard. Second, the Mesa Verde documents being sabotaged in Chuck's home just prove it should have never left the office and the security breach made to accommodate Chuck's condition was grossly negligent. Third, this brotherly feud has gone too far because Chuck just can't let go of his crusade against Jimmy. No one cares that he is right because his deteriorating mental health and mistreatment of people close to him is a more pressing matter.
** The "Pimento" commentary points out that while Chuck knows parts of his brother, he doesn't actually understand Jimmy all that well; see "Witness" where Chuck assumes Jimmy will destroy the tape out of self-preservation instead of rage of being betrayed. And ultimately, while Chuck is right for a while with Saul (and even that is a lot of spiteful appeasing on his brother's part), Jimmy proves at the end [[spoiler: he's capable of change, that he's not just doomed to be chimp with a machine gun]].

* EvenEvilCanBeLoved: For all the bad stuff he did to both of them, Jimmy and Howard do still care about Chuck and are both sincerely devastated both at how he has allowed his spite, pride and jealousy to destroy their relationships and Chuck's eventual suicide. Even years later, Jimmy is still struggling with Chuck's death and how badly their relationship wound up.

** Chuck also has a lot of affection for Kim, seeing himself as a mentor to her and trying to steer her in a positive direction. While Kim initially admired Chuck greatly, the combination of Chuck's treatment of Jimmy and condescending behavior to her made her grow to despise him even more than Jimmy.

** For all of Chuck's ''many'' [[KickTheDog cruel]], [[EvilIsPetty petulant]] and [[AmoralAttorney morally dubious or outright loathsome ]] actions, he seems to draw the line at doing anything outright illegal in his quest against Jimmy. Whether this is due to caring about the sanctity of the law, his pride refusing to let him stoop to that level, or just pragmatism and [[DirtyCoward fear of getting caught]] is up for debate. For example, he claims to be an "officer of the court" to the copy-shop clerk in an attempt to convince him to hand over evidence on Jimmy, seemingly riding on the idea that the clerk will be confused and think he's a police officer. He's not ''technically'' lying since "officer of the court" is just a generic term for anyone part of the common law legal system, but he is seemingly deliberately misleading the guy. It almost works but when the clerk has the foresight to ask him if he's an actual cop, Chuck is forced to admit that he's not, as claiming to be so would be [[ImpersonatingAnOfficer impersonating a peace officer]], which is a [[https://law.justia.com/codes/new-mexico/2018/chapter-30/article-27/section-30-27-2.1/ serious crime]].

** Howard talks about how he's deferred, supported and looked up to Chuck for about twenty years, and all he gets in return is being backstabbed and sued. Chuck stays remarkably smug about it, until he realises he got his millions from Howard's own pocket.

** Tragic in "Saul Gone", as both Chuck realizes that he's treated Jimmy pretty badly and offers an olive branch that Jimmy rejects due to him expecting to be patronized again, and it's because of Chuck ''always'' having been slightly emotionally abusive that Saul [[https://ew.com/tv/better-call-saul-bob-odenkirk-on-series-finale/ seeks out that dynamic again]]... with Walter White.

** For all of Chuck's ''many'' [[KickTheDog cruel]], [[EvilIsPetty petulant]] and [[AmoralAttorney morally dubious or outright loathsome ]] actions, he seems to draw at doing anything outright illegal in his quest against Jimmy. Whether this is due to caring about the sanctity of the law, his pride refusing to let him stoop to that level, or just pragmatism and [[DirtyCoward fear of getting caught]] is up for debate. For example, he claims to be an "officer of the court" to the copy-shop clerk in an attempt to convince him to hand over evidence on Jimmy, seemingly riding on the idea that the clerk will be confused and think he's a police officer. He's not ''technically'' lying since "officer of the court" is just a generic term for anyone part of the common law legal system, but he is seemingly deliberately misleading the guy. It almost works but when the clerk has the foresight to ask him if he's an actual cop, Chuck is forced to admit that he's not, as claiming to be so would be [[ImpersonatingAnOfficer impersonating a peace officer]], which is a [[https://law.justia.com/codes/new-mexico/2018/chapter-30/article-27/section-30-27-2.1/ serious crime]].

* FamilyThemeNaming: Likely named for Charles II, while his father and brother are named for Charles I and James II.
** : The middle ruler preceded by an interregnum of stewards, Charles II was contentious, and no one can quite say whether he was a good king or not, much like how Chuck is seen as both good and evil by different sides.

*** In "Chicanery", Howard tells him that there's no need for him to testify in Jimmy's bar association hearing, as both Howard himself and the private detective hired by Chuck can do that. Instead, he insists on being there personally to ensure Jimmy's disbarment, [[spoiler:but ends up ruining his own credibility via a MotiveRant after Jimmy proves that his sensitivity to electricity isn't real, meaning that Jimmy just gets suspended for a year instead of being disbarred outright]]. Chuck even knows Jimmy plans a "Perry Mason" moment where someone crumbles in the stand but he thinks he is immune to this while everyone else knows he is just setting himself for failure but is too blind to see how his character gives a lot of mitigating circumstances.

*** In "Lantern", Howard finally decides that he's had enough of dealing with Chuck, and decides to TakeAThirdOption and [[spoiler:buy Chuck's shares in the company using his own money. Chuck gets over $3m upfront and will ultimately receive $8m; an amount that he could either retire comfortably on or use to set up his own firm. However, being ditched by HHM finally sends him over the edge, leading to major SanitySlippage over the course of the episode, which eventually culminates in his suicide]].
** His greatest flaw is [[GreenEyedMonster Envy]]. Chuck was an esteemed and wealthy lawyer who had a successful practice, a loving wife, good friends, and the respect of the law community at large, but it wasn't enough. He simply could not cope with the fact that his younger brother was able to effortlessly charm people where he struggled, unable to conceive that Jimmy could be better than him at anything. He never learned to be happy with what he had and instead projected all his insecurities on to Jimmy, to the point that he thought Jimmy was trying to undermine him even as his little brother practically worshipped the ground he walked on. It's heavily implied through [[spoiler:his speech at the stand in "Chicanery" that his resentment drove most of the amoral actions he blighted his otherwise-impeccable record with throughout the series. If he was more comfortable with himself, the series would have played out very differently.]]
** His view that people don't change. No matter what Jimmy did or how hard he worked or repeatedly showed how sincere he was in trying to be better, it was never enough for Chuck to see him as anything more than "Slippin' Jimmy" and sabotage his career, eventually pushing Jimmy to just embrace his worst impulses. Similarly, he still thinks of himself as a noble officer of the court striving to protect the sanctity of the law and the dutiful son and older brother and can't see the petty, envious, and cruel man he has become. This flaw in particular is what destroys his relationship with [[spoiler: Howard in the final two episodes of Season 3.]]

** As stated by [=McKean=], Jimmy's parents passed on the responsibility of "sorting him out" to Chuck, leading to both Jimmy desperate to please his surrogate dad and most of Chuck's life centring around his brother who he'd rather sometimes just not exist and sees as having stolen the love he earned. It also means he has resentment issues for them too, but can never voice that, so he'll take it out on Jimmy instead.

* PleaseDontLeaveMe: For all the abuse he inflicts on Jimmy and admitting to his open resentment, Chuck also needs him around more than he'd like to admit, although his motive is less brotherly love and more having a punching bag and someone to look down on, and his treatment of Jimmy is an effort to keep him around and always looking for Chuck's approval, keeping him just broken enough to stay around and believing he can still get the love he desperately wants.

* TheUnapologetic: Fitting with his pride, Chuck has a serious issue apologizing to those he has mistreated. Even when Jimmy sincerely tries to take responsibility for how bad their relationsip has become and reach out to him, Chuck dismisses him and refuses to admit to any wrongdoing, preferring to cut Jimmy out of his life entirely than swallow his pride.

* WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove: Chuck really is capable of the emotion, for his family and wife and HHM, but he's also confused when Jimmy is actually angry about betrayal with the tape instead of just mad he got caught, and can't comprehend Howard's grief over being backstabbed with the lawsuit after nearly twenty years of loyal support. This inability to understand others is a major motivation for his actions as he has always regarded love and approval as things to be earned and was incensed at the idea that whatever he did, his parents would always prefer Jimmy, failing to understand that they loved them both.

** As stated by [=McKean=], Jimmy’s parents passed on the responsibility of "sorting him out" to Chuck, leading to both Jimmy desperate to please his surrogate dad and most of Chuck's life centring around his brother who he'd rather sometimes just not exist. It also means he has resentment issues for them too, but can never voice that, so he'll take it out on Jimmy instead.

** His pushing Jimmy into being a public defender and later trying to limit him to small-time elder law is just because he doesn't want his fuck-up younger brother achieving any actual success, reasoning that if he can't stop him from being a lawyer as Chuck would like, he can at least keep Jimmy from ever getting into a position of real influence. That said, Jimmy's time in the former does sharpen his skills considerably, and his easy charisma makes him both able to form bonds of trust with his clientele and makes him a natural as a trial lawyer. His experience as working in elder law, conversely, demonstrates that he has a genuine talent and empathy for working with the elderly, and he is generally much better suited to one-on-one relationships and acting independently rather than working in an environment like HHM, making a small one-man firm handling individual legal matters a perfect position for him to thrive in (as, indeed, Saul Goodman later demonstrates, albeit in a much darker fashion). Had Chuck genuinely encouraged Jimmy's skills in those areas rather than simply using them to try and cut him off from any success entirely, things might have been different.

* TautologicalTemplar: As far as Chuck is concerned, any action he takes, no matter how unethical, petty, or cruel, is acceptable because he is, in his own mind, a morally upright person who is trying to protect the sanctity of the law from someone like his con artist younger brother and he refuses to think any further on the subject. The idea that he might be in the wrong or motivated by [[GreenEyedMonster less than noble]] impulses is genuinely unfathomable to him.
* ThenLetMeBeEvil: Chuck did briefly consider that Jimmy might be sincere in his desire to change and tried to extend an olive branch but was rebuffed due to a history of passive aggressive behavior and disapproval and abandoned the notion. This is a less sympathetic version of this trope than usual as it shows that rather than realize he needed to make more of an effort or give Jimmy time to come around, Chuck gave up almost instantly and returned to his former behavior, blaming Jimmy and concluding that his initial assessment was right all along.

* ToughLove: What he ''thinks'' he's doing with Jimmy, complaining at both Kim and his parents for giving his brother support when they shouldn't. While he has traces of a point a lot of the time, the metaphorical choke chain he has around Jimmy's neck just makes him worse.

** His pushing Jimmy into being a public defender and later trying to limit him to small-time elder law is just because he doesn't want his fuck-up younger brother achieving any actual success, reasoning that if he can't stop him from being a lawyer as Chuck would like, he can at least keep Jimmy from ever getting into a position of real influence. That said, Jimmy's time in the former does sharpen his skills considerably, and his easy charisma makes him both able to form bonds of trust with his clientele and makes him a natural as a trial lawyer. His experience as working in elder law, conversely, demonstrates that he has a genuine talent for working with the elderly, and he is generally much better suited to one-on-one relationships and acting independently rather than working in an environment like HHM, making a small one-man firm a perfect position for him to thrive in (as, indeed, Saul Goodman later demonstrates, albeit in a much darker fashion). Had Chuck genuinely encouraged Jimmy's skills in those areas rather than simply using them to try and cut him off from any success entirely, things might have been different.

** His pushing Jimmy into being a public defender and later trying to limit him to small-time elder law is just because he doesn't want his fuck-up younger brother achieving any actual success, reasoning that if he can't stop him from being a lawyer as Chuck would like, he can at least keep Jimmy from ever getting into a position of real influence. That said, Jimmy's time in the former does sharpen his skills considerably, and his natural charisma makes him both able to form bonds of trust with his clientele and makes him a natural as a trial lawyer. His experience as working in elder law, conversely, demonstrates that he has a genuine talent for working with the elderly, and he is generally much better suited to one-on-one relationships and acting independently rather than working in an environment like HHM, making a small independent firm a natural position for him to thrive in (as, indeed, Saul Goodman later demonstrates, albeit in a much darker fashion). Had Chuck genuinely encouraged Jimmy's skill in those areas rather than simply using them to try and cut him off from any success entirely, things might have been different.

** His pushing Jimmy into being a public defender and later trying to limit him to small-time elder law is just because he doesn't want his fuck-up younger brother achieving any actual success, reasoning that if he can't stop him from being a lawyer as Chuck would like, he can at least keep Jimmy from ever getting into a position of real influence. That said, Jimmy's time in the former does sharpen his skills considerably, it's shown that Jimmy has a genuine talent for working with the elderly, and he is generally much better suited to one-on-one relationships and acting independently rather than working in an environment like HHM. And on the public defender side of things, he is able to quickly form trusting bonds with the natural clientele of such a position and his natural charisma makes him well-suited to working with a jury. Had Chuck genuinely encouraged Jimmy's skill in those areas rather than simply using them to try and cut him off from any success entirely, things might have been different.

* NoSocialSkills: A downplayed and realistic version. Chuck is undeniably a brilliant and talented man, and as a successful and well-respected lawyer clearly has more than a little in the way of persuasive ability and communication skills. However, overall he is clearly somewhat lacking in social intelligence and the kind of silver-tongued charisma his colleagues and Jimmy possess. While he's capable of getting by in most personal interactions, has managed to earn the respect and even affection of his colleagues regardless, and has the ability to persuade, influence and even dominate, charm is clearly not his main strength, and what he particularly lacks is the ability to ''dazzle''. This is in stark contrast to both his brother Jimmy and his law partner Howard, the former of whom especially is able to effortlessly charm just about anyone he meets; consider how Chuck and Howard work as a double-act in "Fifi" to convince Mesa Verde to come back to HMM, or when Jimmy meets Rebecca and instantly wins her over with his sense of humor while Chuck's later attempts to make her laugh fall flat. And it's clear that this rankles Chuck, [[GreenEyedMonster especially when it comes to Jimmy]], and feeds into his insecurities and resentments; while others who have his formidable intellect, impressive list of accomplishments and public regard might simply brush off a comparative lack of charisma as a fairly minor issue and focus on their other strengths and accept it as just being part of their personality, the fact that others, ''especially'' his 'worthless' younger brother, are capable of doing something he lacks the ability to do clearly eats away at Chuck.

** His pushing Jimmy into being a public defender and later trying to limit him to small-time elder law is just because he doesn't want his fuck-up younger brother achieving any actual success, reasoning that if he can't stop him from being a lawyer as Chuck would like, he can at least keep Jimmy from ever getting into a position of real influence. That said, Jimmy's time in the former does sharpen his skills considerably and it's shown that Jimmy has a genuine talent for working with the elderly and is generally much better suited to one one one relationships and acting independently rather than working in an environment like HHM and his natural charisma makes him suited to working with a jury. Had Chuck encouraged Jimmy's skill in those areas rather than simply trying to cut him off from the other side entirely, things might have been different.

** His pushing Jimmy into being a public defender and later trying to limit him to small-time elder law is just because he doesn't want his fuck-up younger brother achieving any actual success. That said, Jimmy's time in the former does sharpen his skills considerably and it's shown that Jimmy has a genuine talent for working with the elderly and is generally much better suited to one one one relationships and acting independently rather than working in an environment like HHM. Had Chuck encouraged Jimmy's skill in those areas rather than simply trying to cut him off from the other side entirely, things might have been different.

* RevengeBeforeReason: Although Chuck is a clever man regarding the law, Jimmy, accurately, argues that [[BullyingADragon Chuck's vendetta against him]] will ultimately be self-destructive as he will deprive himself of a career and eventually die of electromagnetic seizures, alone. Jimmy would have probably gotten himself disbarred without help because of his ethics, yet Chuck's insistence on testifying against and harping on him not only let Jimmy stay a lawyer but also decayed a lot of Jimmy's morals.
* RightForTheWrongReasons:

** "Jimmy can't help himself, and everyone else is left picking up the pieces." While it’s true that Jimmy is impulsive and makes plenty of choices that fuck him and everyone else over, Chuck needs to believe for his own sake that his brother is just passively awful. There’s always a reason why Jimmy does what he does, whether it’s pettiness or wanting to make someone happy or greed or doubling down on a bad choice because he thinks it will help in the long run.

* ThenLetMeBeEvil: Chuck did briefly consider that Jimmy might be sincere in his desire to change and tried to extend an olive branch but was rebuffed due to a history of passive aggressive behavior and disapproval and abandoned the notion. This is a less sympathetic version of this trope than usual as it shows that rather than realize he needed to make more of an effort or give Jimmy time to come around, Chuck gave up almost instantly and returned to his former behavior, blaming Jimmy.

* NoSocialSkills: A downplayed and fairly realistic version. Chuck is undeniably a brilliant and talented man, and as a successful and well-respected lawyer clearly has more than a little in the way of persuasive ability and communication skills. However, overall he is clearly somewhat lacking in social intelligence and the kind of silver-tongued charisma his colleagues and Jimmy possess. While he's capable of getting by in most personal interactions, has managed to earn the respect and even affection of his colleagues regardless, and has the ability to persuade, influence and even dominate, charm is clearly not his main strength, and what he particularly lacks is the ability to ''dazzle''. This is in stark contrast to both his brother Jimmy and his law partner Howard, the former of whom especially is able to effortlessly charm just about anyone he meets; consider how Chuck and Howard work as a double-act in "Fifi" to convince Mesa Verde to come back to HMM, or when Jimmy meets Rebecca and instantly wins her over with his sense of humor while Chuck's later attempts to make her laugh fall flat. And it's clear that this rankles Chuck, [[GreenEyedMonster especially when it comes to Jimmy]], and feeds into his insecurities and resentments; while others who have his formidable intellect, impressive list of accomplishments and public regard might simply brush off a comparative lack of charisma as a fairly minor issue and focus on their other strengths, the fact that others, ''especially'' his 'worthless' younger brother, are capable of doing something he lacks the ability to do clearly eats away at Chuck.